Mute

READ THIS- IT'S IMPORTANT! This is a sequel to the caged franchise; I've just called it a different name because Jack's not caged anymore- he's...well, read the title yourself- don't be lazy;-)

Oh yeah, thank you everyone who's reviewed or is reading this!

I don't own rotg...ENJOY! (You knew that was coming)

Jack woke up painfully. He wasn't even aware that he was asleep. Through his blurred vision, he could make out that he was in a light room. Why? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was...chucking a stone at a wall so that...the guardians! Where they okay? Jack was so tired- he couldn't go to sleep- could he? He was safe...was he? Jack wasn't even aware of the person calling his name.

"Jack?! How are you feeling?"

Well, Jack didn't know.

"Jack!" the call was more urgent now. Someone was in the room with him. Who? Jack could barely keep his eyes open, let alone move his head.

"Focus, Jack- look at me." North's head appeared above him. Jack still wasn't understanding what he was saying. Focus...he tried, but he just couldn't. What happened? How did they get out of there?

"Jack?!" North said worriedly. Jack's eyes drifted slowly to him. He looked so tired, but he was fighting the sleep. North was worried, to say at the least, of Jack's condition. They had given him water while he was sleeping, but that seemed to have only helped a bit. The spirit looked so tired and confused. And...scared. He needed some sleep, but if he was refusing, he would have to get Sandy.

"I'm just going to get Sandy- okay?" he could see that Jack had understood what he had said. Then he went out the room. Jack heard the door close and started to tremble. He couldn't help it. It seemed like the walls were closing in on him. He closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts. After the stone...all he remembered was blackness. The guardians must have found him...and taken him here. Where was he? He looked around- well tried to; he couldn't lift his head. Instead he stared at the roof. Hey...this was his room. He could tell by the colour- light blue. What happened? His mind kept going back to that question. He wanted to call so much, but he couldn't. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. He really was useless. At that moment, from what Jack could hear, North came back with Sandy. Jack closed his eyes and opened them again quickly. He didn't want to sleep.

"Jack- you good?" North asked. Jack looked at Sandy suspiciously. Suddenly, Jack knew what Sandy was about to do. Sandy saw the realisation hit Jack and took that as a chance. Before he could blink, Jack was hit in the face by a ball of sand. No! He didn't want to sleep! He tried to fight the sleepiness, but he lost. Soon Jack was asleep.

"Thank you," North said to Sandy, "I thought he needed more sleep- the dream sand shouldn't have worn off that quickly..." Sandy pointed to Jack and made a symbol of a bed with an x through it. North shook his head.

"I don't know why he doesn't want to sleep...I just don't know." He said and sat down on a nearby chair. Sandy floated out the door; It looked like that was his queue to go.

"Why don't you want to sleep?" North muttered, looking at Jack.

It was dark. Jack shuddered. Why was he...cold? So this is what it felt like. He called out, only to get water rushing through his mouth. He closed it quickly, and tried to swim to the surface. Well, tried. He couldn't move. He couldn't move. He needed to get out! Jack could only sink to the bottom of the lake. His lungs felt like they would burst. He needed to breathe. Yet, when he opened his mouth, more water rushed in, and Jack coughed. It only made it worse. He was swallowing water. He was drowning.

You can't run from your fears...

Jack woke up, coughing uncontrollably. North was there, shaking him.

"Jack...you alright?" Jack nodded and stopped coughing. Thank goodness, North thought. He didn't like that coughing. It sounded like he was choking. North relaxed a little, and ruffled Jack's hair. Jack smiled a little. That was a good sign. Jack was recovering very quickly, surprisingly. North smiled back before remembering something. He might as well tell him, as he was awake.

"Jack...you won't be speaking for a while..." North said. Of cause he wouldn't. He had already been told this. For a couple of days. Besides, he didn't really want to speak. Not now. But then North said something else. The final blow. "and you won't be leaving the pole till you are in a stable condition!" he added. He didn't want Jack to get hurt. Well, the spirit didn't like that. He mouthed 'what!' in the most frightening way you could.

"Oh, things could be worse!" he said, looking at Jack's face.